Condition

Runners' Health

Running strains the body through repeated impact, heavy sweat losses and high oxygen demands, so runners often face low iron, bone stress injuries and slow recovery. The evidence is strongest for iron, vitamin D and caffeine, and a meta-analysis found caffeine improved running performance. Findings for other options were thinner: one small rhodiola study saw the inflammation marker CRP go down, and colostrum showed no clear difference in cyclists.

Sources: PMID 29546641

Supplements studied: 2
Graded outcomes: 2
Trials: 3
People studied: 110

Evidence by supplement

Strong
Moderate
Limited
Very limited

2 supplements

Rhodiola Rosea

Rhodiola Rosea: outcomes studied for Runners' Health
Grade	Outcome	Effect	Size	Studies	People
	C-Reactive Protein (CRP) Small Decrease	Improves (the measure goes down)	Small effect	1 study	55 people
Studies that measured c-reactive protein (crp) Extract of Rhodiola rosea radix reduces the level of C-reactive protein and creatinine kinase in the bloodBull Exp Biol Med · PMID 15514725
	Monocyte Chemoattractant Protein-1	Improves (the measure goes up)		1 study	55 people
Studies that measured monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 Evaluation of Rhodiola rosea supplementation on skeletal muscle damage and inflammation in runners following a competitive marathonBrain Behav Immun · PMID 24055627
	Creatine Kinase	Changes; see studies			55 people
	Granulocyte-colony stimulating factor	Improves (the measure goes up)			55 people
	Interleukin 10	Improves (the measure goes up)			55 people
	Interleukin 6	Improves (the measure goes down)			55 people
	Interleukin 8	Changes; see studies			55 people
	Lymphocyte Count	Improves (the measure goes up)			55 people
	Monocyte Count	Improves (the measure goes up)			55 people
	Muscle Soreness	Improves (the measure goes down)			55 people
	Neutrophil Count	Improves (the measure goes up)			55 people

Colostrum

Colostrum: outcomes studied for Runners' Health
Grade	Outcome	Effect	Size	Studies	People
	Aerobic Exercise Metrics No effect		NoneNo effect	2 studies	30 people
Studies that measured aerobic exercise metrics Dose effects of oral bovine colostrum on physical work capacity in cyclistsMed Sci Sports Exerc · PMID 12131260 The influence of bovine colostrum supplementation on exercise performance in highly trained cyclistsBr J Sports Med · PMID 16825268
	Weight	Improves (the measure goes down)		5 studies	30 people
Studies that measured weight The effects of bovine colostrum supplementation on body composition and exercise performance in active men and womenNutrition · PMID 11312068 Effect of bovine colostrum supplementation on the composition of resistance trained and untrained limbs in healthy young menEur J Appl Physiol · PMID 14504943 Effect of bovine colostrum on anaerobic exercise performance and plasma insulin-like growth factor IJ Sports Sci · PMID 12848392 and 2 more on the Colostrum page
	Oxygen Uptake	Improves (the measure goes up)		2 studies	30 people
Studies that measured oxygen uptake The nutriceutical bovine colostrum truncates the increase in gut permeability caused by heavy exercise in athletesAm J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol · PMID 21148400 Bovine colostrum supplementation during running training increases intestinal permeabilityNutrients · PMID 22253980
	Heart Rate	Improves (the measure goes down)		1 study	30 people
Studies that measured heart rate Bovine colostrum supplementation during endurance running training improves recovery, but not performanceJ Sci Med Sport · PMID 12188088
	Intestinal Permeability	Improves (the measure goes up)		1 study	30 people
Studies that measured intestinal permeability Co-administration of the health food supplement, bovine colostrum, reduces the acute non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug-induced increase in intestinal permeabilityClin Sci · PMID 11352778
	Lactate Threshold	Improves (the measure goes up)			30 people

Key findings

C-Reactive Protein (CRP)Rhodiola RoseaImproves (the measure goes down)
Aerobic Exercise MetricsColostrum

The Runner's Health and Performance Support protocol

2 primary supplements · 8 supporting supplements

Iron18–65 mg daily if ferritin <50 ng/mL (with vitamin C; test before supplementing)
Vitamin D2,000–4,000 IU daily (maintain >40 ng/mL)

See the full protocol

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Studies cited

13 studies from PubMed

Extract of Rhodiola rosea radix reduces the level of C-reactive protein and creatinine kinase in the bloodBull Exp Biol Med · PMID 15514725
Evaluation of Rhodiola rosea supplementation on skeletal muscle damage and inflammation in runners following a competitive marathonBrain Behav Immun · PMID 24055627
Co-administration of the health food supplement, bovine colostrum, reduces the acute non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug-induced increase in intestinal permeabilityClin Sci · PMID 11352778
Oral bovine colostrum supplementation enhances buffer capacity but not rowing performance in elite female rowersInt J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab · PMID 12432178
The effect of bovine colostrum supplementation on exercise performance in elite field hockey playersInt J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab · PMID 12500989
Effect of bovine colostrum on anaerobic exercise performance and plasma insulin-like growth factor IJ Sports Sci · PMID 12848392
Effect of bovine colostrum supplementation on the composition of resistance trained and untrained limbs in healthy young menEur J Appl Physiol · PMID 14504943
The effects of bovine colostrum supplementation on body composition and exercise performance in active men and womenNutrition · PMID 11312068
Bovine colostrum supplementation during endurance running training improves recovery, but not performanceJ Sci Med Sport · PMID 12188088
Bovine colostrum supplementation during running training increases intestinal permeabilityNutrients · PMID 22253980
The nutriceutical bovine colostrum truncates the increase in gut permeability caused by heavy exercise in athletesAm J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol · PMID 21148400
The influence of bovine colostrum supplementation on exercise performance in highly trained cyclistsBr J Sports Med · PMID 16825268
Dose effects of oral bovine colostrum on physical work capacity in cyclistsMed Sci Sports Exerc · PMID 12131260